The Road Not Taken
by LoveforPenandDerek
Summary: Morgan and Garcia. His life could end at any second and all he can think about is her and what they never had.
1. Chapter 1

**Premise- Morgan and Garcia. His life could end at any second and all he can think about is her and what they never had.**

**Note-**This fic takes place after the season five episode 23 Our Darkest Hour, except that what happened to Derek at the end of the episode is slightly different in this story.

The storyline for this fic is inspired by a storyline that was on the American soap opera General Hospital in 2003. Anything italicized is a dream. Strong T rating for sex and violence.

**The Road Not Taken**

**Morgan and Garcia **

**Chapter One**

_She was always there for him._

_Even though there was absolutely nothing she could do to help him reconstruct a bomb that didn't stop Penelope Garcia from spending half the night with Derek Morgan at the BAU. This had happened a few times before in the five months since she had started working there._

_He wasn't about to complain about her hanging out with him while he worked. She had a way of keeping him turned on at all times._

_A certain energy about her that exhilarated him._

_She was a Goddess, he told her that often. Garcia was the BAU's tech analyst and every day since she had joined their team Derek came to work with a huge smile on his face and pep in his step. No matter what he faced out in the field she had a way of bringing that smile back again over and over. _

_When they spent nights together like this they would talk and talk. He never shared himself, his past and his dreams, with any other woman like he did Penelope. Before he met her he didn't want to settle down but she changed all that. She changed him._

_Now all he wanted was her. _

_They flirted constantly about hooking up, running away together, getting married, having babies, but before all that having wild, crazy, hot, intense, knees buckling sex. And he wanted that. He wanted it all._

"_Baby girl, I know you must be tired. You don't got to stay here with me. I appreciate very much you hanging out this long but you should get home to your nice, warm bed, Angel, and get some rest. You know we got another case starting in the morning and around here it don't pay to be dead on your feet when trying to do your job."_

"_Are you trying to get rid of me, Hot Stuff?"_

_He waggled his head at her. "Never ever, ever."_

_She smiled happily. "Good. Because a chocolate God like you would be hard to give up. You know I have a really bad sweet tooth."_

"_Anytime you wanna take a bite, I'm right here and I ain't going nowhere."_

_I'll never leave you, Penelope, he thought to himself, as he stared deep into her twinkling brown eyes, while she sat next to him at the table._

"_Oh, you're not? Mine for life? Good!"_

_He laughed. "Glad you like that idea."_

_She ran her hand over his arm, making sparks tingle all through him. He looked at her hand stroking his bare forearm. He loved it when she touched him. He couldn't explain why she was so different for him but he just knew she was._

"_I love that idea, Hot Stuff. It makes my motor purr to think about you forever being a part of my...sex life." She smirked._

_He blushed. "Garcia, you're crazy! But I don't know how I survived without you for twenty eight years before you came into my life."_

"_Very poorly, I assume."_

"_Yeah," he said, with a small grin playing on his lips, as he looked back at remnants of the bomb on the table and the model he was trying to reconstruct. "That's pretty accurate."_

_She chuckled softly. They talked more about work, their lives and places they wanted to visit when they got enough money and time off. Derek's cell rang._

"_Ohhh," Penelope dragged the words out "a call at 2:34 in the morning. That can only mean one thing. Some woman somewhere is jonesing for your beautiful God body in her bed."_

"_Or someone died."_

_She grimaced. Derek looked at the phone and then set it back down. "No case."_

"_So what's her name?"_

_Derek sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm not calling her back."_

"_She'll be heartbroken."_

"_She'll get over it."_

"_Maybe tomorrow night you can make all her dreams come true."_

"_Yeah, maybe. That depends on a few things though."_

"_If the new case we're starting in the morning takes you far, far away to fight evil?"_

"_Yeah," he looked at her and smiled a little, before raising his hand and holding her chin "and if you got rid of that noose around your neck yet."_

"_Charlie is a not a noose. He's a hottie who has a crush on me. And I don't think he's gonna go anywhere anytime soon. He's quite taken with this tech kitten."_

_Derek let go of her face and focused on his work again. "Hmmm. Well then that settles that, Garcia. I guess I'll call her back since I can't have a Goddess in my bed. Second best will have to do for now. But don't think I like it."_

"_If a big strong stud like you doesn't like something I would think he'd take measures to rectify the situation."_

_His head whipped to the side. Her eyes were wide. _

_He asked "That what you want?"_

_She licked at her lips. "Charlie is hot for me. But my heart races only for the biggest hero in all the world. I don't know how I did without him for twenty seven years before he first called me Gomez."_

_Derek's eyes lit up. This felt like more than teasing. He took her face in his hands, leaned close and rubbed his nose against hers. "Baby girl...you're more than I deserve but all I'll ever want."_

"_Derek," she whispered his name._

_Like lightening flashing his mind filled with all these images: dancing at a bar together, walking through the park with his puppy Clooney, seeing her across the bullpen as she walked to her office, the sound of her laughing in his ear as they talked on the phone, the way her bare legs looked when they peeked out under her skirts and the way she wore the sexiest heels he had ever seen._

_He leaned over and caught her lips in a kiss. And he knew he'd never kiss another again._

(If you want a lover

I'll do anything you ask me to.

And if you want another kind of love

I'll wear a mask for you.

-x-x-

If you want a partner

take my hand

or if you want to strike me down in anger

here I stand

I'm your man.) (I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen)

XXXXXXXXXXX

**May 2010**

"We should have waited for backup," Detective Matt Spicer said to SSA Hotchner and SSA Prentiss when they arrived at the crime scene.

Local police and ambulances were already there. Lights and sirens filled the air. Just then a gurney came out of the house with SSA Morgan on it. He wasn't conscious.

"I'm sorry your man got hurt," Detective Spicer said, guilt obviously plaguing him. At the end of the driveway, two ambulances waited. One was for SSA Morgan and the other was checking out Detective Spicer's daughter and sister.

Matt and Derek had placed a call to the local PD before entering the house but didn't wait for them to respond. The unsub managed to get the jump on Derek and knock him out. Matt found his daughter and sister handcuffed to a bed, he was unaware of Derek being injured at that time, and then the unsub came in the room before Matt could free his family.

This unsub was a sadistic and liked to play with the minds of the people he was there to kill. He was mentally torturing this family when the local cops showed up, stormed the place and after a struggle between Matt and the unsub he was taken down. That's when Derek was found laying on the kitchen floor next to the dead body of the homeowner.

Matt had been the one who insisted on going into the home before back up arrived so it was Matt now who blamed himself for the FBI agent's injuries.

Aaron Hotchner looked grim as the gurney rolled past him. He said to the detective "Second guessing won't change things now. You did what you thought was best in the heat of the moment."

The weight of the world was on those two men standing there that night. One blamed himself for the torment his family had gone through, and the injury of a fellow law enforcement officer. And the other worried for his friend and colleague, and knew he had a call he had to make that was going to be painful and heart wrenching.

But she had to know what had happened.

XXXXXXXXX

Penelope hated being out of contact with her team. It made her nervous as hell. They were out in San Francisco for this case. Rolling blackouts were causing havoc out there.

She would be glad when her team of brave crime fighters were all back home safe and sound again.

When her office phone rang she startled and snatched it up. "Derek?"

There was no reason to think it would be him more than anyone else but in times like this she always thought of him first. Needed to hear his voice the most and reassure herself that he was okay.

"Garcia," Hotch said heavily.

"Oh, hello, sir. Did you get the baddie?"

"The unsub was apprehended by LEOs before he could kill his last hostages."

"Oh, good! That's a relief. So are you all heading home to me now? Too bad its so late. I could sure use a celebration at the bar tonight. I've been climbing the walls here since you all were out of contact. But all's well that ends-"

"Garcia."

"Yes, sir?"

"Morgan was injured tonight. He's already in transit to the hospital. I won't know more for a few hours. He wasn't shot or stabbed though. It's a closed head injury...Garcia, I'll get back to you when I know something else, all right?"

"Ummmmmm..." Tears filled her eyes and her face felt very hot. She spoke fast. "Is there anything I can do? Someone I should call? What can I do to help him? Tell me something to do."

"Pray."

"Right! Okay...Boss man, please call me as soon as there's any word about my noir hero."

"As soon as I know anything you'll be my first call, I promise you that, Garcia."

"Thank you, sir." She clicked off the phone and dissolved in tears.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Road Not Taken**

**Note- in case there is any confusion, Derek is dreaming of Penelope while he is unconscious.**

**Morgan and Garcia **

**Chapter Two**

_She smiled at him with the dreamiest look on her face as they walked along the National Mall in Washington, DC. It was a beautiful night out. They had been on a few dates and shared many steamy kisses but had not taken it any further yet._

_Just being near Penelope always made Derek's heart swell. Whether they were at work or spending time with friends at a bar or going to romantic dinners, plays, or movies he loved having her near._

_Derek pulled her into her arms and stared down into her warm brown eyes._

"_Handsome, you make my heart sing. How did I get to be so lucky?"_

"_I'm the lucky one."_

"_I do love hearing that. But can something this magical really last? One day are you gonna get bored with me like you do all your other friends with benefits?"_

"_They were never my friends, Penelope, and you, gorgeous Goddess, are so much more than just a friend to me now." He bent and pressed a kiss to her lips._

_In the strangest and most intense way his whole body warmed._

_When she pulled back, her eyelashes fluttered opened and she whispered "Take me home and ravish me repeatedly."_

_Taking hold of her face he gave her a hungrier kiss, showing her all his pent up desire for her and that he wanted nothing more than to make love to her that night and every night from then on. He couldn't seem to imagine the rest of his life spent anywhere but by her side now._

_Holding hands, both blushing and chuckling, they raced to his SUV. He pushed her against it and kissed her over and over, her lips, her throat, nibbled her ear, massaged her ass and heard her moan into his mouth._

_The next thing he knew they were naked in her bed, him over her, and their eyes were locked on each other as he slid inside of her for the first time._

_I'm gonna marry this woman, he thought to himself as he slowly was enveloped in her sweet, tight, wet warmth._

_Fusing his mouth to hers a beautiful, hot heat took over his body. He saw stars and then a bright white light behind his eyes. It was like being in heaven. My God, he would do anything to win and keep her love._

_Anything for his baby girl. Everything. Derek Morgan had fallen in love for the first and only time in his life._

(If you want a boxer

I will step into the ring for you.

And if you want a doctor

I'll examine every inch of you.

-x-x-

If you want a driver

climb inside

or if you want to take me for a ride

you know you can.

I'm your man) (Leonard Cohen)

XXXXXXXXXXX

**May 2010**

"What? Say that again, Hotch," Reid's voice got a little hysterical and JJ jumped out of her seat at the police station.

"Spence?" JJ asked

Their eyes met. Reid said into the phone. "No, no, I understand...Hotch, I'm fine to drive! I didn't get bashed over the head, did I?...I'm sorry. Yeah, we'll be there soon." He hung up and said to JJ. "Morgan was attacked by the unsub. Come on. We got to get to the hospital."

She hurried after him out of the room. "Spence, hold on, how bad is he?"

"Unconscious still."

JJ gasped. Spencer pulled her into a hug. He wanted to say it would be okay but he wasn't sure it would be.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Penelope wandered in a daze to the tech floor and up to the door of boyfriend's office. The floor was just about empty by this time of night. She knocked on his door but after a moment, when there was no response, she realized Kevin had gone home at his usual quitting time hours before.

Being so worried and upset about Derek had Penelope in a fog.

She leaned against the door and sunk to the ground, her knees tucked to the side since she was in a skirt, held her head and cried loud body racking sobs for the second time that night.

She wished Hotch would call her back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hotch and Prentiss hurried inside the hospital. There was a citywide blackout. This facility was using generators but it was a complete madhouse inside of there.

Hotch went up to the desk, pulled out his badge and said "SSA Hotchner, FBI. One of my agents was brought in. Derek Morgan. I need an update on his status and to be kept appraised."

"Let me see here," the nurse checked the computer and then said "He's been taken into the OR."

Emily asked "Are you sure? Already? He was just brought in."

"He has a traumatic intra cerebral hemorrhage. The need to find the bleed and stop it. Its gonna be hours before he's out. I'll have you paged when a doctor has information for you. Now, if you'll excuse me, sorry, but this place is running me ragged tonight." She rushed off.

Hotch and Prentiss looked at each other.

He said "I need to call Garcia."

XXXXXXXXX

"Boss man," Penelope snatched her cell phone out of the pocket in her skirt. She had made it to Derek's desk now, not knowing where else to go or what to do. "Please tell me he's going to be okay and this is just another scare."

"He's in surgery. He's in good hands, Garcia, and he's young and strong."

"Right, right, right...okay. I should call his mother."

"I can do that. Just get me the number."

"It should be me. What do I tell her? Did they say...I mean...he's going to make it, isn't he?"

"We won't know anything till the surgery is over. As soon as I know, you will know."

"I should be with him."

"Lets just wait till the doctor's speak to me after his surgery and we see what we're looking at."

"Derek will need me when he wakes up. He'll want to see me."

"Lets just wait."

Her voice shaking she spat the words out in a emotional rant "Because I may be somewhere over the middle of the country when you call to tell me he died? Is that why you want to wait?" Click.

Penelope hugged herself and sobbed some more.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Road Not Taken**

**Morgan and Garcia **

**Chapter Three**

_He lay on his back, in a room painted purple and surrounded by things only Penelope would ever use to decorate a home, feeling complete tranquil and at peace for the first time in his life._

_She lay on her stomach next to him, one hand on his chest, looking flushed and satiated. A sexy grin curved her lips. Her hair was all tousled and she was still panting from their lovemaking._

"_Wowza, Hot Stuff! That was...so, so, so, amazing. You've ruined me for other men."_

"_Good," he said in a low growl as he rolled her over and angled himself on top of her again. Looking into her shimmering eyes he felt completely known, accepted and loved. His mouth covered hers and hot, intense heat whipped through him._

_It was more than desire. It was as if he was in the safest place in the world when he kissed her._

_Suddenly he was standing in a church, wearing a white tuxedo and top hat, looking down a very long aisle. The doors opened to reveal Penelope standing there dressed in a beautiful ivory gown that had a long train- the train has small purple flowers embroidered on it. She carried a bouquet of purple flowers that were bright and bubbly as her personality._

_Tears pricked his eyes. Soon she was there, holding his hand. The vows passed in a blur of sounds and colors, the room spinning all around them, the faces of family and friends smiling surrounded them. And then he had her in his arms again, kissing his wife. They turned to the crowd, hands joined, he kissed her hand before they rushed down the aisle._

_Derek lifted Penelope into his arms, hugging her in the foyer of the church, and spinning her around, whispering in her ear. "I will forever love, honor and cherish you, baby girl."_

_After he set her down he cupped her face, as tears ran down her face, and said "Thank you for making my life worthwhile, Mrs. Morgan."_

"_You make me so happy, Derek Morgan."_

_A second later they were in a hospital room, a baby in her arms, tears coming down both their faces, their friends from work there and Derek's family too. They had a son._

_Like a flash he saw the home they shared, Clooney rolling around the backyard with their three year son. Penelope was pregnant again, laughing and smiling brightly while Derek worked the grill. Then another image of two kids in a pool. Now there was another son and they were both older and seemed to have a fearless gene inherited from their father. They jumped off the side of the pool and did flips into the water. Derek was so worried for them. They needed to be careful. He didn't want to lose his family._

_Then he was sitting on a couch with Penelope. She had been crying. "I just don't know if I can keep doing this. You take too many chances in the field. And I sit at home here with my heart in my throat waiting to get a call from Hotch that this time you aren't coming back."_

"_I will always come home to you. I am not going anywhere."_

"_You can't promise that! And you aren't being careful like you swore you would! I knew who you were when I married you but you, Derek, know that I can't lose another person I love like I lost my parents."_

"_You won't lose me."_

"_Why did you get in that ambulance? What about me? I could have listened to you die!"_

"_Baby girl-"_

"_No, Derek! You have to think about us first or you have to leave us go. Because I won't live this way."_

_He took her in his arms and she sobbed. He knew she didn't mean it. She wouldn't kick him out and she wouldn't leave. Penelope was just trying to recover from yet another scare when she thought she might lose him. He had to stop putting her through this._

"_I'm so sorry, baby girl, that you went through that. I do put you and our sons first. This family is everything to me. You're everything, everything, everything, everything..." the word repeated and repeated and repeated like an echo._

(Oh, the moons too bright.

This chain's too tight.

The beast won't go to sleep.

-x-x-

I've been running through these promises

I made to you but couldn't keep.

Ah, but a man

never got a woman back

not by begging on his knees.

-x-x-

I'd crawl to you, baby,

and I'd fall at your feet.

I'd howl at your beauty

like a dog in heat.

I'd claw at your heart.

I'd tear at your sheet.

I'd say please, please,

I'm your man) (Leonard Cohen)

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fran Morgan was at work when she was paged to the nurse's station. "Fran, call for you on three."

"Thanks, Shirley." She hit three, thinking it was one of her daughters about something trivial. Sometimes they just needed a Mom's words to get them through the day. She couldn't use her cell at work because of the machines. The cell could mess them up. "Hey."

"Mrs. Morgan, this is Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia with the FBI. I work in your son's unit, ma'am."

She had heard about Penelope a thousand times. "Of course, Derek mentions you often. Is he all right?"

"Ma'am, he's working in San Francisco for a case and he's been injured. As I understand it, it's a head injury. I don't have more details yet but he's in surgery. I promise to inform you as soon as there's more word on his..." hiccup, sob "condition. I'm sorry, ma'am. Hang on, please."

Fran felt the room spin. She could hear Penelope's crying on the other end of the phone. Fran's hand covered her mouth.

She didn't know how she could cope if she lost her precious baby boy. This was the day she had always prayed would never come.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rossi, Reid and JJ came into the hospital. It had taken quite a while to get there because of traffic. They asked about Derek at the desk but before they could find out anything they looked down the hall and saw Hotch leaning against a wall.

The hospital was loud and chaotic. The blackout was making the city a mess.

"There's Hotch," JJ said and literally ran over to him, with the men following her at a slower pace.

They watched her touch Hotch's arm and him startled. When they got closer they could see how grim he looked.

Rossi said "Derek is tough. He'll pull through this one."

Reid saw a sign that said waiting room and followed it. He wanted to see if he could locate Emily. Finding the room, he saw that it was as loud, packed with people, and hectic as everywhere else in the hospital. Among that chaos sat Emily, looking stunned still.

Reid walked over and crouched in front of her. "Hey."

"Reid." A little life came into her eyes but then it died as quick as it had flared. "He's in surgery still, I'm pretty sure. I guess it's a serious head injury Morgan took but he'll make it. He has to, right?"

Reid hugged Emily. They never had hugged before but it was easier to hug than talk. There was a lump in his throat that just wouldn't go away.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kevin took Penelope to the airport. He asked if she really had to go. She wondered if it was a trick question. No matter if he was asking more than just that simple question the answer was the same whether it meant losing Kevin or not.

Yes, she really had to go.

Penelope didn't make it to San Francisco until almost noon the next day. She hadn't slept in more than thirty hours but she wasn't tired at all. She was still too frantic to think about closing her eyes.

As soon as she was in the airport she called Hotch for another update.

Derek was in a coma by then. They said he could come out of it anytime. The sooner the better. There was also a chance he never would wake up again.

When she reached the hospital she got a visitor's pass and went to the ICU. Penelope came across Rossi first.

"Kitten," he said in a comforting way, wrapping her in his arms.

By now she was numb. There were no tears left to cry. She looked past Rossi to Derek's hospital room and was surprised his mother, who she knew from pictures, was already there. Her flight from Chicago must have left before the first one Penelope could get on from Washington DC.

Moving out of Rossi's arms she stumbled a few steps to the door of the ICU. Derek lay there, machines hissing and hooking up to him, a tube down his throat, and his head wrapped in bandages.

She gasped.

Fran turned and looked at her, then stood up. "Penelope Garcia."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Its okay. You can come in."

As much as Penelope wanted to rush inside she also wanted to run away, to go back in time and not be here in this city. To have Derek not be in that hospital bed. He was a man so full of life. But now his life was whittled down to this sad sight that made her want to howl in agony for him.

Shuffling inside she said "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"I know you're very close to my baby boy. He would want you near by while he's fighting to come back to us. Its quite possible he could hear us so make sure you talk to him and tell him how much you need him to wake up. I'll give you a few minutes alone with him." She walked out.

Penelope took Derek's hand and held it, not able to move it much because IV's were attached to it. "Hey, handsome...Derek, please don't give up. You don't have to wake up and be just like you were...you don't need to be perfect for me or anyone. You just have to wake up...I love you and I need you. Please, baby, please try for me. We can get you through this together but I can't get through the rest of my life...without you."

Beep. Beep. Beep. That's all Penelope heard in that room. And all she would hear for days when Derek didn't answer her back.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Road Not Taken**

**Note-I read that you have to retire at 57 in the FBI. Wonder how old Rossi is? As far as Derek's dream goes that rule doesn't exist, since its just his dream anyway.**

**Morgan and Garcia **

**Chapter Four**

_Derek Morgan could hardly believe that he and his wife had just dropped their youngest child- their second daughter- off at college. Was it really almost thirty years ago that he first called Penelope Gomez and then baby girl._

_Two more years and he'd be sixty. Not that he planned to retire then or at sixty five or even seventy. He'd keep teaching new recruits in the FBI till they kicked him out. Penelope didn't mind it. She knew he needed to keep in the game somehow._

_As he drove away from the college he looked over at his wife, who was knitting a baby's blanket in the passenger seat. Their second son was now on his third kid._

"_Baby girl, wanna grab some dinner before we get on the highway?"_

"_I'm beat, honey. How about we get take out when we get close to the house? Can you hold out till then?"_

"_Sure thing. I'm pretty whipped anyway. She couldn't get a dorm with an elevator?"_

"_That dorm is where all her friends are living."_

"_To be young and not mind climbing ten flights every day."_

"_You used to run ten flights just for the fun of it."_

"_Not for fun. To keep in shape and sexy for my baby."_

_She smiled at him. Her smile was still magnificent. In that moment he flashed to many times over the years when they took car trips with the kids, or with their friends, or when they went up to Chicago and saw his family. All the times Penelope was sitting in that passenger seat, looking gorgeous, with different hairstyles and hair colors over the years but always completely breathtaking in his eyes._

_If he couldn't have this life with her then he would rather have no life at all._

(And if you got to sleep

for a moment

on the road

I'll steer for you.

-x-x-

And if you wanna work

the streets alone

I'll disappear for you.

**-x-x-x**

If you want a father for your child,

or if you only wanna walk

with me a while

across the sand,

I'm your man.) (Leonard Cohen)

XXXXXX

**May 2010**

Reid rambled off grim statistics about coma, vegetative states, and the chances of full recovery for Derek. Hotch had just gotten to the hospital but already he was sick of hearing it.

He was tired, cranky, terrified, angry, regretful, missed his son, hated the set of circumstances they were all in and had hit his breaking point.

"Shut up!" he yelled at Reid.

Everyone in the waiting room turned and looked at them. Reid had been there for hours already. They were taking turn staying with Derek. Though JJ was needed at home with her son she didn't feel she could go. No one felt they could leave because if they did it would seem like they were saying they gave up on Derek waking up anytime soon.

It had been four days. Long, tiring, painful, tearful, miserable days.

Reid startled at Hotch's screaming at him.

Hotch said "I'm sorry. I need air." He turned to walk out and then looked back. "I lost my cool. I was out of line."

"Statics don't matter. There is always the person who beats the odds. That could be Morgan, right?"

"Yes, it could be," Hotch said, his tone stoic, before he turned and left.

XXXXXX

"No, Kevin, I can't come home." Penelope stood outside the hospital speaking on her cell phone. "No! They didn't JUST say that he might stay this way forever! They ALSO said that he might wake up any second now. There's no reason to think he won't!" She tried to calm down when he quickly apologized. "I know you're just worried about me...No, I'm sorry. I'm so very tired and I can't sleep out here. Back in California for the first time in fifteen years and it doesn't feel like home anymore. More like hell on earth...Love you too. Bye."

She sank down and sat on a bench. Staring at the cars driving by, and the people walking around, she wondered why the world looked so normal. Didn't anyone care about the good man- the hero who fought for all of them- who was laying in a hospital bed upstairs?

Only a handful of people cared about Derek. But Penelope thought the whole world should stop if he was unconscious.

It didn't seem right that it went on as normal without him. She never could.

XXXXXXXXX

It was something the nurses and doctors were used to seeing when a patient was in a coma. But that didn't make it any easier to hear the gut wrenching screams for him to wake up.

Family and friends seem to think if they yelled really loud it might jar the person out of their coma. It didn't work that way but desperation made people do things they knew to be futile.

Emily had been in his room visiting. She didn't like to go in there. It creeped her out. But each day she went for a few minutes anyway.

She had leaned close to his ear and whispered "Derek, I am begging you to keep fighting. We need you on the team. We can't do this without you. We need you here. Fight, damn it. Derek! Come on. Wake up. You gotta wake up!"

That day her quiet begging turned into yelling as the desperation took over. Being in that hospital made time seem strange. Four days felt like months. It seemed as if he was slipping away and if he didn't wake up right then he never would.

She didn't realize before now how very much she had come to regard him as family, not just a friend, and she couldn't stand to think he would lay in that bed till they buried him.

"DEREK! WAKE UP!"

A nurse rushed in and she was pulled out of the room. Soon Emily found herself falling into nearby arms. As JJ held her they both cried because they couldn't do anything to help Derek now.

XXXXXXXXXXX

On the fifth day there was a meeting with the doctors. They were told that everyday that passed lowered Derek's odds of waking up but they were still doing all their tests and monitoring him. They were not writing him off, they said.

Penelope sat next to Fran, holding her hand, while the doctors spoke about transferring Derek to a long term care facility if he did not wake up within the next ten days. That was their deadline for him.

Behind where Penelope and Fran sat, in the small office, stood the rest of the team.

Penelope could tell that everyday this was wearing Hotch down more and more. He had lost so much already. He had to bear so much guilt. Now this was more for him to bear.

She rubbed her head. The headache she had just wouldn't go away. She had been having crazy thoughts lately. Like how she wished she had kissed Derek, made love to him, that he had wanted her that way back before she ever met Kevin. She wished she had his baby. Some part of him she could hold and see Derek's eyes again.

She wanted to wear his ring on her finger. Carry his last name. Sleep in his bed, smell him on the sheets, care for his home and his dog and his child.

She wanted the world to look at her and know she was Derek Morgan's love.

For all the times she swore she was over her crush on him, that her love for him was platonic, she knew now it wasn't true. She loved him in a deep, soulful way, and would give anything to spend her life with him sleeping in bed next to her, calling her his wife.

But if he would just wake up she wouldn't push for that dream to come true. All she wanted was for him to wake up again.

The next thing Penelope knew all the doctors were gone and the room was empty, save for Rossi. He said "Lets get you some dinner."

"I don't feel so..." was all she got out before she threw up in the nearest trash can.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was dawn on the seventh day when Derek's eyes opened again.

Penelope was sleeping in his room, curled up on a chair, because she couldn't bear him to be there alone all night. His mother would come each day as soon as visiting hours started. She'd get Penelope to the cafeteria and insist she have some breakfast. They would talk for a good hour before Penelope would take a cab to her hotel for a shower and a nap. That was their daily routine.

But this day Penelope woke up to nurses and doctor's in Derek's room. She jumped to her feet, tossing off the thin, white hospital blanket. She couldn't see him because of staff surrounding his bed.

"What's happening?" she asked

A nurse turned, unblocking her view, and she saw his eyes were open. Her hand shot to her mouth. The doctors were talking to Derek and testing his responsiveness. The tube was out of his throat now.

Penelope longed to hear his voice but she just saw him nodding his head yes or no.

"Ma'am, I need you to step out."

Penelope wasn't given a choice. She was assured into the hallway. Aloud she whispered "Oh, God, thank you, thank you, thank you."

Though she wanted him to recover to one hundred percent she would not complain if he couldn't get there again. All she needed was him here with her.

After a long while the doctors came out and one informed her that Derek had to have more tests. His throat was too raw to talk but he had spoken a few words. He had that cognitive function. It would take time to see if his memory and ability to think clearly was impaired or not. He did have the ability to swallow, which they said was extremely important for him.

"Can I please see him now?"

"If you stay calm and don't expect him to be able to talk to you."

"Yes, doctor, I understand."

She was allowed inside and rushed over to the bed. Not being able to help herself she kissed all over his face, happily, and then caressed his cheek. Lightness came into his formerly fear filled eyes as he gazed at her.

He mouthed "Baby girl."

She started to cry happy tears that fell all over his face. "Never scare me like this again, Derek Morgan!" She lay her head down on his shoulder. "I love you. I always and forever will."

He was able to, with considerable effort, raise his hand and clutch hers.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Road Not Taken**

**Morgan and Garcia **

**Chapter Five**

**June 2010**

It took Derek more than two weeks more of recovery before he was ready to be released from the hospital. All of the team had went back home and so had his mother but Penelope remained by his side. They took a train home because the doctors advised Derek to not fly yet.

During the train ride home they celebrated his birthday with cupcakes. They had a sleeping car with bunk beds and at night they would talk for hours before falling asleep. They were simply friendly with each other and not overly flirty.

Once they were back in Quantico Derek was not his normal, healthy self yet. He moved slower still. He would have to go to physical therapy before he would be up for kicking down doors. But he was walking and talking on his own steam and he considered that pretty good.

When he came out of the coma he had remembered what year it was, knew he was a bachelor and knew Penelope loved Kevin Lynch. But he also remembered every second of his dreams. It was hard to get through those first few days as he coped with accepting that all the beautiful images in his head were a dream and his real life wasn't anywhere close to that.

He had known he loved Penelope, as a friend, for years now. He had even admitted to himself a while back that he would love a chance to date her and see if their heat translated to the bedroom.

But after his injury he knew that without a doubt he was madly, crazily, completely in love with her and deep inside of him he wanted that dream life with her to have been his real reality.

It was too late to ask her on a date the first year they met. Too late to marry her the second year. Make a baby the fourth and then three more babies within a ten year span.

It might even be too late to ever call her his own. But that didn't stop him from remembering his dream and feeling all the happiness he had in that dream. And the crushing pain now that he was back in his true reality.

XXXXXXXXX

Not long after Derek and Penelope entered his house, Clooney in tow, on his first day home he told her "Thank you for everything, sweetheart."

"What did I tell you about that?" she teased as she sorted his mail. "No more thanking me for staying with you in California. Wild horses couldn't have dragged me away.

Derek sunk onto the couch. He looked around the living room and, in his head, saw flashes of a different home, the one from his dream, and his make believe kids running around calling him Daddy.

"Baby girl, leave that alone, please."

She stilled and set down the mail. "Okay. What are you in the mood to have for dinner?"

"I'll figure it out. Don't worry about it."

"Oh."

"You should get home and get back to your life. You've given up enough of it for me."

"I don't mind staying here tonight until you're ready to go to sleep."

"Penelope, I'm not some invalid that needs nursing still. That's why they let me leave the hospital. I'm very grateful for the recovery I've made and I know for a good while longer I'll be working to get back as much as I can but I need to do the rest of my recovery on my own."

"You aren't even allowed to drive right now. How will you get to appointments or the store?"

"I'll figure it out. I'll call a cab or take a bus."

"Why are you being so hard headed, Derek? I know you hate accepting help and you are sick of being looked after but that doesn't mean I'm okay with just being dismissed and tossed out like trash you're done with now."

"Hey!"

"You're the one making me feel that way and I will not apologize for speaking the truth. If you think you're well enough to make it without me around then I guess you're well enough to fight with me too. So the gloves are coming off. How do you like that? Maybe I have a few choice words I'd like to say to you about your stubborn male pride that only gets you in trouble every time you let it control you instead allowing yourself to show weakness. It doesn't make you less of a man to need help. But I guess you are too hard headed to admit that!"

He crooked his finger at her, asking her to come to the couch. She walked over and he motioned for her to sit down.

Feeling chagrined she said "I'm sorry, baby. Its just the idea of walking out of here and leaving you is freaking me out and making me act a little crazy. I knew this moment had to come but still...I'm sorry I went off on you. You didn't deserve that."

"This is just one more thing that I love about you, Garcia. You don't see me as a weak, injured mess right now. You still see a guy you'll verbally smack down if he pisses you off." Derek gave her a small grin. "I need that. I need you to see me as who I used to be, even if I'm not him still and I might not ever be again."

"Since when are you a defeatist? Look at how far you've come. You need to set your mind on going all the way with your recovery. Its not for me, your mom or the team. We love you however you are. Its for you. I know you and I know you want to be the first one in the door again someday."

Derek looked away. "Priorities change. My job means something to me now but not everything." He looked back at her. "Being good to the people I love means the most to me right now. When I needed them they all they stepped up for me. You most of all, baby girl."

"We've gone through this whole ordeal together. It doesn't feel right to walk out your door tonight. But if you don't want me here then there's not much I can do about it, is there?"

"Baby, you are always welcome here."

"So I can stay?"

"You have a life to get back to and I just think its best if you do. I'll be fine."

"You need space. I get it. You're sick of spending twenty four seven with me."

"Don't be that way, please. I'm thinking of you right now. Honestly."

"Then invite me to stay here till you go back to work. That would be giving me what I want, Derek."

"Penelope," he all but groaned her name."Don't you need to get home to Lynch? He's been calling you ten times a day."

"I do need to see him but, like you just said, priorities change. Its sad and it hurts but he is not my priority today. You were injured and you come first."

He took her hands. "We're friends and I know you love me but this is not what I want. I don't want you here out of pity. I won't have it. So please take your beautiful, Goddess, solace sent down from God, self and go home. Get your life back, sweetheart, and stop feeling like my nurse cause that's not how I want you looking at me." He kissed her cheek.

Tears welled in her eyes. Hoarsely she told him "What you are doing is so wrong right now. You survived to just go on the same as always, huh? Well you have it your way, Derek Morgan! Don't you ever forget that this is not what I want. I wanted to stay here with you! But if you don't want me then consider me gone!"

With that said Penelope ran out the door. Clooney barked, upset by the loud voices, and Derek lay his head back, closing his eyes, and having images from his dream haunt him. They were dancing together under moonlight. He leaned over and kissed her and then that feeling of peaceful warmth filled him.

Derek cried as he sat there that day.

XXXXXXXXXXX

A few weeks went by.

Derek and Penelope rarely spoke. She ignored him for a few days and then had called to check on him. Their conversations from then on were very short. He'd tell her he was fine and she'd say that was good. She didn't ask for details because she didn't want him calling her out on hovering or trying to be a nurse maid.

All she wanted to do was see him through every second of this but he had pushed her out.

Some days she felt like she was losing her mind. She couldn't be happy with Kevin anymore. Finally one night he tried to take their good night peck further and started to take off her clothes. Penelope jerked away.

"I can't."

"Penny, I know you've been through a hard time but its over. Lets put it behind us and get back to really living again. Before you know it Morgan will be doing the same. Your friend is all right and there's no reason you have to mope around like he died."

"I know I've been out of sorts lately and you've had to put up with a lot. I just don't feel..."

"Like yourself again yet?" He sighed. "Its okay. You will again. I just miss being with you and I hoped you were ready now. Don't stress over it. You went through a lot and you'll get over it when you get over it."

"I just don't feel...like I used to...about us. I'm not going to get over this. I'm in love with another man."

When Kevin left that night Penelope cried herself to sleep and wished that Derek would have let her stay with him. Did he really plan to get better and go back to dating casually any skinny, young thing that would let him screw her?

She fell asleep feeling sick and woke up feeling the same way.

_(Hello yesterday, I sure need you now._

_Goodbye yesterday, I can't stay around._

_You see I cried just a little too long._

_Now its time for me to be strong..._

_-x-_

_They say I'm hopeless, hopeless, hopeless_

_as a penny with a hole in it,_

_penny with a hole in it,_

_penny with a hole in it._

_-x-_

_They say I'm no less_

_no less_

_no less_

_than up in my head in it._

_-x-_

_Yeah, yeah,_

_They say I'm hopeless, hopeless, hopeless_) (Hopeless by Dionne Warwick)


	6. Chapter 6

**The Road Not Taken**

**Morgan and Garcia **

**Chapter Six**

September 2010

Penelope was surprised on the day that Derek came back to work. He had told her he probably wouldn't be able to for a while still. But then he walked into the 10 briefing one morning shortly after it started.

Everyone greeted him excitedly.

Reid asked "Are you back full time?"

Hotch said "Desk duty for now. Take a seat, Morgan."

Derek sat down and JJ passed him her copy of the case file. The meeting went on. Penelope couldn't stop staring at Derek. She hadn't seen him in three months. They spoke every once in a while but she still missed him desperately.

After the meeting everyone took a moment to speak to Derek and then Hotch requested that Derek come to his office. Derek asked "Can I have a moment?"

Hotch nodded and left.

Once they were alone, with Penelope taking an undue amount of time to gather her files up, Derek walked over to her. "Baby girl, you're a sight for sore eyes."

She looked up at him. "So are you, handsome."

"Its good to be able to get back to some kind of normal schedule. I've been going crazy at my house trying to find things to keep me busy. I tore out a bathroom and its still in shambles."

She purred "You stubborn, stubborn, stubborn hunk."

"I know I was supposed to take it easy but there was only so much sitting around I could do."

She looked him up and down. "You look really good."

He chuckled. "Well thank you very much, mama." He touched her arm. "You still look-from your gorgeous red hair to your sexy high heels- like my gift from God."

She smiled and blushed. "I will translate that to mean smoking hot."

He waggled his head at her. "So hot that you set my world on fire. And that won't ever change."

She touched his chest. "Well its good to have you back. It wasn't the same without you around here."

Penelope went to move away but Morgan placed both his hands on her hand, which was on his chest, and held it there a moment. He squeezed her hands. Their eyes met for an emotional lingering gaze.

He said "Lets just get this out there so there's no confusion. I want to have you back- all of the way, like nothing went wrong."

"Derek, I won't go backwards, not for anyone. Not even you."

He let go of her hands. Looking down he shook his head. "I will not accept that we can't keep working to make things better. Baby, I don't want to drag you down or backwards or be the one you feel obligated to. I just need our friendship to get back to something closer. Five minute phone calls are not cutting it for me."

Penelope walked around Derek. "Like I said, I won't go back. Yesterday is gone and we can't pretend that you were never hurt and that we didn't both face some harsh realizations about our place in each other's lives. I wanted in more and you wouldn't allow it. Right now I don't know what tomorrow holds for me or us. But if you want to figure it out with me," she looked over her shoulder and smiled at him "you have my number."

After a moment his grim expression lightened and he chuckled. "Yeah, I got your number."

With a small smile on her lips Penelope walked out. Derek kept watching her till she disappeared from his sight. He let out a long breath. Now he was back.

But he wasn't the same man anymore. He took life a lot more seriously now. He wanted to love his friends in a more open way, trust them more, talk to them more, spend more time away from work with them, see his family in Chicago more (he had visited them for a month in the summer and his mother had made it known that she wanted him to date Penelope). Derek wanted to live as a better man.

The ambitions he used to have were to move up in the FBI. Now he wanted to make a full life for himself.

He just wasn't sure how to really be happy and grateful to be alive if Penelope was still in love with and dating and sleeping with another man. But Derek planned to keep working on his patience. Being with another woman was not what he wanted.

He wasn't ready to give up on her yet. He wasn't sure he ever would be.

XXXXXXXXXX

Since he was around the BAU now Derek made a point of hanging out in Penelope's office every work day. They fell into a comfortable rhythm again but he had to admit there seemed to be something more simmering there- some kind of added sexual tension that swirled around them now.

It wasn't in their words so much as in a subtleness in how they looked at each other.

Maybe it was the three months apart that had caused it. He knew he had ached for her desperately and hated thinking she was off with Lynch living it up all that time. Now that Derek was around Penelope again he felt good again, like himself again, and even more turned on then he had been around her this time the year before.

When he was younger he would have sworn that knowing a woman for years made her boring in a man's eyes. He might love her but she couldn't excite him like she did the day they met. Now Derek knew that was a crock.

Penelope excited him thousandths of times more today then she did six years ago. And she had made his world spin faster back then. Made his heart race. Made his blood thicken. Now it was just so much stronger.

_(I still remember trying not to stare_

_the night that I first met you..._

_I hadn't told you yet_

_but I thought I loved you then._

_-x-x-_

_And now you're my whole life._

_Now you're my whole world._

_I just can't believe _

_the way I feel about you, girl._

_-x-x-_

_Like a river finds the sea,_

_stronger than its ever been._

_We've come so far since that day_

_and I thought I loved you then..._

_-x-x-_

_I can just see you with a baby on the way._

_I can just see you when your hair is turning gray._

_But what I can't see_

_is ever loving you more_

_but I've said that before_) (Then by Brad Paisley)

"So am I driving you crazy by being around your neck all the time, woman?" Derek was kicked back in Penelope's office.

"There is no where I'd rather be than next to you, my love. Just don't spill anymore coffee in here or you're on restriction. I'll make you sit on your hands so you can't knock anything over on another one of my babies."

He laughed. "I said I was sorry! And I promise you it will never happen again."

"Better not, bub."

He smiled at her as she typed away. His eyes twinkled as he enjoyed just staring at her. After a few minutes she turned and looked at him.

He could swear there was palpable lust staring back at him from her eyes. Then she blushed and went back to typing.

She said "I can feel your eyes on me."

"You should be used to that by now. I stare at you every chance I get, always have and always will. Its my second job."

"I thought flipping houses is your second job?"

"That's just a hobby. Admiring you I would make my full time occupation if the pay was better."

Penelope laughed. "You're gonna burn a whole through me and then I won't be nearly as pretty to ogle."

"Hush and let me have my fun. I'm on a break."

She smiled and chuckled. The next time the team called Rossi teased "So is Morgan behaving? I notice he's always in your office when we call you."

"You're lucky you have good timing or else you'd catch him ravishing me."

She heard Hotch say "Remind me to check the tapes."

Derek laughed loudly, wrapped his arms around Penelope from behind, and spent a few minutes talking to the team before they hung up. After that he kissed her forehead and headed back to his paperwork.

XXXXXXXXX

**October 2010**

Just when Derek was starting to feel like him and Penelope were really strong again he got hit in the face with how very wrong he was. The team was out at the bar (minus JJ who went home to Will and Henry, and with Mick Rawson in tow since Emily was dating him) and everyone was having a great time.

Derek was doting on Penelope.

But then he caught sight of Lynch come in with his arm around a woman. Derek could not believe what he was seeing. He had purposefully avoided talking about Lynch with Penelope ever since he was injured, and even before that he wasn't likely to bring the man's name up. But he assumed that things were still going okay between Lynch and Penelope.

Derek felt horrible for Penelope, pissed off at Lynch and about ready to murder someone.

"Baby girl, look at me." When he had her attention he added "Lynch never deserved you and if he doesn't realize you are a Goddess then that man is stump dumb. Hey, I know nothing can make this easier on you but I am here for you. I love you and if you lose everything else you can never lose me."

It was the first time he had said that in front of all their friends.

"Where is this coming from?" Penelope asked

Derek motioned at Kevin. Everyone looked. None of them seemed upset. Derek's eyes widened. "What? What am I missing? Did you all know he was seeing someone else?" He looked at Penelope. "Baby?"

"Derek," she said, solemnly "Kevin and I ended things in June."

His mouth gaped. He looked at his friends. "You all knew this? How is it everyone knew this but me?"

"I'm sorry," her voice was meek.

Shaking his head angrily Derek stood up, grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

The whole team sat there in uncomfortable silence until Emily cried "PG, go after him!"

"Not gonna happen."

"Oh my God!" Emily cried "Seriously, you need to go talk to him and explain yourself."

"I know I should have told him that Kevin and I are over but Derek made it perfectly clear to me after he came home from the hospital just what my place is in his life. I can only have so much and not an inch more. So that's all he can have with me. Who I date is my concern."

Hearing that Reid got upset. His voice rumbled with anger. All of them had sat back and tried to stay out of the games that Penelope and Derek played with each other but he had finally had enough. He was sad to see Derek so hurt and humiliated.

Reid said "Garcia, he is in love with you, if you didn't know that already. He is. And if he pushed you away it was to protect himself because you had a boyfriend. Don't be stupid right now or else you're going to destroy the best part of your life and end up as lonely as I am. You owe him an apology."

Rossi added, sternly, "Tonight."

Penelope sat there, her heart pounding hard, her face flushed and her stubborn mind not wanting to let her heart believe Reid's words.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Road Not Taken**

**Morgan and Garcia **

**Chapter Seven**

**October 2010**

Derek's living room look like it got ransacked by an unsub in the middle of a psychotic break. But it was just his drunken, angry, hurt lashing out that caused all the damage. Penelope had hidden from Derek the fact that her and Lynch were split up for the last four months.

All their friends knew but he was left in the dark about it.

It was more than clear that even though Penelope was single and even though they had worked hard for a month to get close again, and even though the sexual tension was off the charts she didn't want something real with him. Because she never opened her mouth to say they could have it now.

He knew eventually he would break down and cry. Eventually he would face that he had to get over Penelope. Eventually he would stop seeing little snatches of that dream he had while in a coma in his head. Eventually he would move on. Some day he would love another, marry another, father her kids.

It just seemed so unreal at that moment.

He felt sick, empty and completely spent. His anger was starting to dissipate into numbness when there was a knock on his door. Turning quickly he looked through the glass next to the door and saw Penelope.

And then the anger came back full force. He walked over and yanked open the door. "You do not want to be here right now. Go home, Garcia!"

"First let me say that I'm here to apologize for any hurt that I caused you by not being honest."

"Don't you get it? I don't care! I don't even care anymore what you say or do! Its clear that I don't rate in your life anymore! So from here on out why don't you just stay the hell out of mine!"

"After the way you treated me this last summer do you really think you have any room to judge me? You cut me out! You didn't call me once. Didn't see me once. If you didn't come back to work or I didn't call you then our friendship would be reduced to memories by right now. Cause you put in ZERO effort and threw me out of your house and your life. So I didn't tell you about the most important thing that happened in mine...that's right, Derek. I dared to keep something intimate, painful, life changing and private from you because you don't deserve to know. I don't even know why I'm here apologizing to you! I'd do it all over again just the same. I get to conduct my love life however the hell I want and unless and until you want to step up and have the damn guts to be my man you, Derek Morgan, can consider your opinion on it NOT NEEDED!" Then she stormed away.

After a stunned moment Derek ran after Penelope, who had almost made it to Esther by then, and took hold of her arm, spinning her again and bringing her against his chest. "Come here."

She fought slightly to make him leave go.

He murmured, as he held her head against him, "Shhhh, baby."

After a moment she relaxed but he could hear her crying softly. He scooped her up and carried her inside.

Seeing how his living room was in shambles she cried "Oh my God, this place is a disaster. Did you do this?"

Instead of answering her, he kicked the door closed, pressed a kiss to her temple and carried her past the torn up living room, down a long hall and into his bedroom. He set her down. There was no light on in the room, just moonlight streaming through the window.

Derek ran his hands up and down Penelope's upper arms. Then he raised his fingers and softly brushed away her tears before titling her head up. Lowering his head he kissed each of her wet cheeks.

"Baby girl, you hear me right here and now. I don't just want to be your man. I am your man. And if you let me I will always be your man. That's what I pray you allow for us. I've prayed so hard for this. God must be sick of hearing Derek Morgan and seeing him on his knees that he finally answered my prayers...Please put me out of my misery, give my life meaning again, and make this all real...Tell me that you want to be my woman."

Penelope's mouth opened and closed several times and then she burst out crying. Derek's eyes widened. He took a big step back.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry," he said "I pushed too much."

She waved her hand in front of her face. "Happy..." sniffle, sniffle "tears, Hot Stuff!"

Relief washed over Derek. He pulled her into another hug and kissed the crown of her head.

_(I know that she's not perfect_

_but she tries so hard for me._

_And I think God she isn't cause how boring would that be?_

_-x-x_

_It's the little imperfections._

_It's the sudden change of plans._

_When she misreads the directions,_

_we're lost but holding hands._

_-x-x_

_Yeah I live for little moments like that_.) (Little Moments by Brad Paisley)

A deep warmth, almost as powerful as he felt in his dream, flowed through Derek. He shook slightly as he hugged her close. "Baby girl, my God, I can't imagine losing you for good from my life. I need you so much. Do you know how much I love you? I love you with every breath of my body, every beat of my heart and all of my soul."

She kissed against his t-shirt and Derek felt his heart swell even more. Cradling her face in his hands he gave her a very gentle kiss that increased the warm, peaceful feeling in him by twenty times.

He took her hand and led her to the bed. Knelt down and took off both her shoes. Stood up and took the clips out of her hair. He kicked off his shoes. Took time to take his guns off and pull his cell out of his pocket. And then he asked her "Will you lay down with me? I just need to hold you and convince myself this is where you want to be most right now."

She nodded and they lay on his bed, both on their sides, looking at each other. She caressed his cheek. "I wanted to stay here so bad in June. I know its hard to let someone help you when you're sick or injured but I'm not just someone. Tell me you won't ever be stubborn that way again, Derek."

"I'm sorry my pride got in the way but it was more than that, sweetness. I knew if you stayed here it would torture me because you weren't mine all the way. Not in this way that you are right now. I couldn't settle for just a part of you anymore. I wanted all of you. I still do. And, woman, you best believe that I always will. Settling for less is done for this man."

She smiled sweetly. "Good. I will take that as the sacred vow that I hope it was intended as."

"Silly girl, you have my vow, my word, my heart, my life, my future. Everything. You are everything to me and you have everything I have to offer. Only you, Penelope. No other woman has ever gotten in my heart. I won't let anyone there but you."

(_When she's laying on my shoulder_

_on the sofa in the dark_

_and just about the time she falls asleep_

_so does my right arm._

_-x-x-_

_And I want so bad to move it_

_cause its tingling_

_and its numb._

_But she looks so much like an angel_

_that I don't wanna wake her up._

_-x-x-_

_Yeah, I live for little moments like that_)

They shared a tender kiss and she whimpered into his mouth, then pressed herself closer to him, running her hand over his bicep.

Penelope said "I almost lost you in California. I never told you but when I was in the hospital waiting for you to wake up it hit me...if you were to leave me...you hadn't given me a baby yet. And I want that, Derek. I felt so hollow when you were in the coma...and that's when I knew I couldn't love anyone more than I love you. I knew I had to end my relationship because I loved you with all of myself and there was nothing left for anyone else."

Those words were just what he needed to hear to reassure him that he had her love.

_(When she steals my heart again_

_and she doesn't even know it._

_-x-x_

_Yeah I live for little moments like that_) (Brad Paisley)

"Baby girl, you just don't know how happy you're making me right now." He ran a finger down her nose. "This is all I've been praying to have happen for us. All I want most for my life is to have you by my side. Right here in Derek Morgan's bed every damn night of your life."

"That idea takes my breath away."

"I need you with me, Penelope. I'm so tired of being alone and missing you. I'm ready to settle down and I'd never want to do that with anyone but you."

"Hearing that does make my heart sing, my love."

"Want it to sing more? How about hearing this? This, bar none, qualifies as the best night of my life."

"Oh, Derek."

He gave her another gentle kiss.

She said "I know I ticked you off earlier and I am sorry for that. We were so close when we were in California and the train ride home...I kept wishing it didn't have to end...and then you sent me home. I was sure you didn't feel it like I did...I thought you wanted to get rid of me and call some other woman up."

Derek smiled at her. "You're so crazy, sweetheart. There has been no other woman in my bed since I was injured. I woke up and I looked in your eyes and I saw my only love. So its you or no one, Garcia."

"Its me."

He chuckled. "Damn straight it is." And then he kissed her again, while letting his hand roam down her side, over her thighs and ass, making her moan.

She pulled back. "Oh! We have to thank Reid. He told me that you love me and to come here tonight."

"Mmm, how can you lay a kiss like that on me and be thinking about Reid at the same time? Silly girl, focus please."

Penelope giggled and they went back to kissing.


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you for reading another one of my stories._

**The Road Not Taken**

**Morgan and Garcia **

**Chapter Eight**

**October 2010**

Derek woke up to the feel of Penelope's head on his chest. Before he even opened his eyes he raised his hand and stroked her hair. In his mind he remembered parts of his coma dream.

Finally his real life was starting to measure up to that fantasy.

Penelope woke up because Derek was stroking her hair. "Morning, handsome," she said sleepily, not moving off him.

"Morning, princess."

The night before they hadn't made love. Instead they had just talked, caressed and kissed for hours. Eventually he gave her a shirt to wear to bed and he pulled on some pajama pants. They kept talking more till they finally fell asleep. They both needed all that verbal reassurance that being a couple was truly what each other wanted after so long of just being friends.

This morning was a different story though. Derek found that out when he felt Penelope's hand moving off his stomach and down his body. She rubbed over his already hard dick and he moaned.

Rolling her on her back Derek looked down at her. He was really glad they had the day off. "Pump your brakes, woman."

"Baby," she whined "its not nice to withhold from the one you love."

Derek laughed. He started to kiss her neck. "I've waited so long for this. And if you touch me right now this will be over before it gets started. We're not having that."

Penelope sighed blissfully as Derek moved down and sucked her tit through the cotton shirt she had on. Her hands massaged the back of his head.

They stayed in bed till way after lunch time that day.

XXXXXXXXXX

They couldn't get enough of each other.

Penelope and Derek moved from the bed to the shower, making love as they got all soapy and wet, and then finally went to find some food. After a quick meal they headed to the couch to chill out and watch some TV. But as soon as Derek sat down Penelope straddled him, brought her mouth to his and they shared a deep, soulful kiss.

He was wearing black jogging pants and a sleeveless shirt. All she had on was one of his white oxford dress shirts, with the first four buttons undone to accommodate her ample, gorgeous cleavage.

Derek gripped Penelope's thighs, as she raised up off him while she deepened the kiss. He massaged her thighs and then ran his hands up to grip her ass. She moaned into his mouth.

Watching TV was completely forgotten. They had too much time to make up for when it came to making love to do anything else today.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Late that night Derek was laying on a blanket on his living room floor, in front of the fireplace, with Penelope asleep on his chest, him still buried deep inside of her. They couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other.

He was tired but he really didn't want to sleep on the floor.

Derek stroked Penelope's hair over and over in a soothing motion as he thought about the last twenty four hours. The anger at her when he realized she hadn't told him she ended things with Lynch. The feeling that she kept it from him because she didn't want him to make a move on her. The feeling that she was trying to punish him for the long summer they spent apart. The feeling she would never be his.

And then the rush of love, hope and forgiveness when she said he should step up and be her man.

Those words from her- yelled tearfully at the top of her lungs- had pulled him from the depths of despair. Made him see that she wanted him in every way. That her love was strong and so was her pain, just like his, and if he didn't stop her from leaving she might always let the pain be more important than the love.

Now it never would be. Now the love would overcome all their pain.

"Baby girl," he murmured as he tried to shake her awake. "Sweetheart, come on, lets go to bed."

Gently he rolled over so she was on her back, slid out of her and kissed her eyelids, as she woke up.

Derek whispered "Bed, woman. My back will hate me in the morning if I crash on this floor."

She scrunched up her face. "I was having the best dream."

Derek grinned a little. "You don't need dreams anymore. You got the real thing." Then he latched his lips around her breast and it was a while longer before they made it to the bedroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next afternoon Penelope and Derek sat on his bed. They had decided to each call their friends off the team and tell them they were dating now, so they didn't have to make an announcement when they went back to work.

Penelope called JJ while Derek called Reid.

"Jayje, guess what? You will never again have to listen to me whine that Derek is foolishly wasting his life away with sluts who will never be baby mama material because a couple of nights ago that handsome hunk promised me that I'll be the one who makes him a Daddy."

"Reid, man, you aren't gonna believe it. I'm gonna marry Garcia."

"Jayje, hold on!" Penelope tackled Derek, making him let out a loud laugh, and they started kissing and then moaning.

Their friends were forgotten.

"Penelope? Hey? You there? I want details!" JJ cried

"Morgan? Hello?" Reid asked "I can hear you, you know. Listen, I don't want to hear what I'm hearing right now so call me back later. And tell Garcia that she's welcome."

"Penelope!" JJ called out. "Get off him and pick up your phone. Can you hear me? Hello? Oh, fine! Call me back!"

Derek rolled Penelope onto her back and smiled down at her. "Mmm, how did I get so lucky as to have God give me my own personal angel on earth?"

"How did I get so lucky to have a stone cold super fox want to spend the rest of his life with little ole me?"

"Because you're a sexy Goddess who gives me more love than I deserve."

"You deserve everything, Derek, and I'm going to see that you get it, too."

"You deserve to be worshiped and I think its just about time again for me to do that." His fingers slid inside of her panties, while his mouth kissed and sucked on her throat.

Penelope let out a blissful moan.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**November 2010**

"Baby, come to bed."

"This place is such a mess. You know I can't stand clutter."

"Hey," he said tenderly "put it down and come to bed. I'll make it worth your while."

They had spent that day clearing out her apartment and moving her in with him.

Penelope smiled and set down the books she had been unpacking. "Well, lover, when you put it that way all I can say is please don't go easy on me."

Derek chuckled. "Get your sexy behind over here, silly girl."

She walked across the living room, to where he stood near the hallway, and he held out a hand to her. She took his hand and Derek pulled her flush against his body. Their lips met in a kiss. Soon they were moving towards the bedroom, only breaking their kisses long enough to pull off different pieces of clothing and kick off their shoes.

Going onto the bed together Derek whispered "Welcome home, mama."

Their lips met again. The kiss was tender, slow and possessive, as they each claimed each other as all they wanted and would want forever all over again.

XXXXXXXXXX

**December 2010**

"Did you feel that?" he asked, as they rolled away from each other, panting.

She purred "I sure felt something."

He chuckled. "I'm serious. I think we just made a baby."

She rolled on her side, looped a leg over his, and ran her fingers down his chest. She teased "So now you have a baby making intuition, do ya? Does that come from being a big time profiler?"

"Hush," he said, with a big smile. "You just wait and see. A month from now its gonna be_ Derek I got something to tell you_."

Penelope smiled. "I'd make sure to tell you fourth."

"What, woman?" he said, in mock horror, and then slapped her ass.

She giggled. "Well your mom has to hear first. She's been waiting years for you to give her a grand baby. Then there's JJ. She put in hard time listening to me go on and on about you. Then I really should tell Hotch since I'll need time off from work."

Derek laughed. "You are so crazy! Baby girl, I better hear about our child being on the way about two seconds after you figure it out. You even so much as suspect and I wanna know about it. After all I'm the one who talked you into getting our family started in 2011 instead of waiting even one more year."

"Yes, you did, my love, and mama loves the idea now that it has sunk in."

"Mmm, come here, angel," he murmured and pulled her up higher on him so their lips could meet. After a kiss he brushed her hair back from her face. "I dreamt we had four kids together so I hope you like big families."

She smiled. "So you're already dreaming of our babies? That's so cute, Hot Stuff."

He rolled her on her back and looked down at her. "This dream...I had it when I was in the coma. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life...and it was all about you, Penelope."

"Really? You didn't say anything when you woke up."

"Sweetness, you had a boyfriend and I didn't think I should be telling you about my dream of us being so hot for each other that we hooked up a few months after we met, fell crazy in love, got hitched and stayed together fifty years."

"Wow, baby, all that was in your dream?"

"All that and more."

He spent the next hour holding her and telling her everything he could remember about his dream. Penelope cried happy tears at how emotional Derek was over that dream, at all he had imagined, and at the fact that soon they would be married and maybe even have a baby together.

Last May she almost lost Derek. But when he woke from his coma it was their second chance. They came close to throwing it away.

God had other things in mind though. Everything happened for a reason. And the reason that Derek and Penelope didn't make love for the first time until October of 2010 was so that almost exactly a year later their first daughter would be born.

Both their prayers were answered and more happy tears were shed when she let out her first cry. Derek had lived to see his dream come true.

THE END


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